A rift is emerging between the US and Israel, after Barack Obama’s administration hit out at Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu for speaking to Congress without consent.

The Democrats say they are in the dark about Prime Minister
Netanyahu being allowed to speak to Congress about Iran. The
party says the Israeli delegation did not consult them and they
therefore broke protocol. The Democrats were also fuming with the
Republics after the Grand Old Party’s Speaker of the House of
Representatives John Boehner, gave the Israeli PM the go-ahead.

"It's out of the ordinary that the Speaker would decide that
he would be inviting people to a joint session without any
bipartisan consultation," said Nancy Pelosi, the House
Democratic leader at a weekly news conference, which was reported
by Reuters.

Boehner made the announcement that Netanyahu was to speak about
Iran in front of Congress on January 21, the day after Obama said
in his State of the Union address that he would veto any extra
sanctions against Iran.

The Republican is keen to impose further sanctions on Tehran
saying, "He (Obama) expects us to stand idly by and do
nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran," Boehner said.
"Two words: 'Hell no!' ... We're going to do no such
thing," AP reported.

The Israeli Prime Minister believed the “two-party leadership” of
Congress had invited him, but congressional aides said they knew
of no members of the party who had been consulted, according to
Reuters.

The US administration also made an announcement that Netanyahu
will not be granted an audience with either Obama or the
Secretary of State, John Kerry, during his next planned visit to
the US on March 3, citing the proximity of the Israeli elections
as the reason for the snub.

“As a matter of long-standing practice and principle, we do
not see heads of state or candidates in close proximity to their
elections so as to avoid the appearance of influencing a
democratic election in a foreign country,” National Security
Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said Thursday.

The Republican’s hit out at the Democrats, with Republican
Representative Mac Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed
Services Committee, saying Congress was exercising its proper
constitutional role.

"To ask a foreign leader who is at the center of a huge
number of the challenges facing the country to come talk to
Congress, how is that not within our purview as an independent
branch of government, to hear from him directly?" he said,
according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post believes Netanyahu’s decision to
“break with protocol” could lead to a different stance being
taken towards the Israeli PM.

“The bilateral relationship [between Israel and the US] is
unshakable,” the newspaper quoted a source close to
Secretary of State John Kerry as saying. “But playing
politics with that relationship could blunt Secretary Kerry’s
enthusiasm for being Israel’s primary defender.”

Despite the controversy over Netanyahu’s visit, the Israeli Prime
Minister does have a lot to gain politically from visiting the US
and speaking in front of Congress on an issue as sensitive as
Iran. A harsh line against Tehran would be welcomed by many in
Israel.

The incumbent PM is facing a tough fight to win re-election when
Israel goes to the polls in March. His Likud Party is trailing
their main opponents, the Labor Party, which has highlighted the
discord that has emerged recently within the country’s crucial
relationship with the US.